Flames of Betrayal
by Slazer
Summary: Once a champion, now simply trying to live. A Growlithe stung by betrayal now lives out his days in peace, trying to rebuild some of what he lost. But when his past returns to haunt him again, how far will he go to protect the new life he has created?


**A/N:**** Well, it's been quite a long time since I've put out any good stories… or any stories at all for that matter. O_o;**

**But now I'm back in action with this story, which is a step away from the full comedy of my older work. Old favorites, like AMLM, will be continued once I get back my flare for them, but for now my focus is on this story. There isn't much more to say in this Author's Note, so… enjoy! =D**

**Prologue****: A Friendship Ablaze**

* * *

Hello, my name is Enkidu, and I'm a Growlithe living in what the Human's call 'Eterna Forest' in the region of 'Sinnoh'. Nothing unusual about that, right? Wrong. There is something very wrong with this picture… because once, I was a champion.

Well… the champion Pokemon of a Human trainer, actually. My old owner… Resal, the current Grand Champion of the so-called 'Sinnoh Pokemon League', had hatched me years ago and given me the name that I still use out here, in the wilderness. I was always his favorite… I saw the most battle, sharpening my skills like swordsman sharpens his blade; through time, patience, and activity.

I was with him from the second 'Pokemon Gym', as they call them, onward. I was always on the frontline, even when I was at a disadvantage in type. I fought because I cared for my master, because I wanted to win the battle for him so that he could go on, so that he could fulfill his wishes. One after another, the gyms fell before me and my master's team of well-trained and cared for Pokemon.

I bet by now you think I'm a prideful pup, and you may just be right. But I was always loyal to my master… there wasn't much that I wouldn't do for him. When he defeated the master of the final Pokemon Gym, I was there as he took the 'badge' from that other yellow-haired Human. When we crossed the perilous cavern road that my master called 'Victory Road', I was there to protect him. When we stepped up to battle the first of the 'Elite Four', I was there to meet the challenge.

One by one, we defeated four Humans commanding powerful Pokemon, ones that gave us our fair share of trouble. As we stepped forward to battle the last of the League, the Human that my trainer called 'Cynthia', I knew that we were close to accomplishing my master's goal.

The battle was intense and extremely close; every time we defeated one of her Pokemon, she knocked one of my master's other Pokemon out cold. Both Cynthia and my Master were down to their last conscious Pokemon… me, against her Garchomp.

The odds seemed like a giant tower that could crumble at the base and crush me at any moment, but I held my ground in the face of the giant dragon. I knew that if I could defeat it, my master's goal would finally be reached.

The fight was unbelievably difficult, even for me. I didn't expect this Pokemon to be a pushover… but it was phenomenal in power and technique, a huge leap ahead of me in the former. Despite it, I knew I wasn't going to lose and let my master down. We had come all this way, defeated Pokemon far and away more experienced than us, and I was not about to lose here and disappoint my master.

"Here goes." I grinned as I barked at the Garchomp; this was all that stood between my master and his dream.

I put my advantage in speed to use to avoid most of the Garchomp's heavy-duty attacks, with only a few hitting me at all. I saw it becoming more confident, probably thinking that I couldn't counterattack at all, so when it came at me for a rushing attack, I let him have the full fury of my fiery Flare Blitz attack head on at full power.

When I broke through his charge and slammed the Garchomp with all my might against the wall, I knew it was over. At last, my master had reached his dream of conquering the League.

Once we left the Pokemon League, we were swamped by 'news crews' from almost every Sinnoh 'news station' there was, Human packs that seemed to specialize in letting other Humans know what was going on right down to the minute. My master and I blew through them, starting on the pathway home to 'Jubilife City', where my master grew up and where I was born.

As we traveled home, I wondered what would come next for us. Would my master continue traveling as a 'Pokemon Trainer'? Would he decide to slow down? I'll even admit to thinking about if he would let me have a mate. He knew I had my eye on another member of the team, a certain Houndoom... but I'm off track. No matter what was ahead, I knew that I would be there with my master to help him through the challenges, to protect him for as long as I could.

When we came home my master, who was around seventeen or eighteen in 'Human' years, was immediately swamped by his mother, father, and sibling. His younger sister, around eight Human years old now, who had once dyed my fur purple and put lipstick… again, I'm wandering.

We were treated to a champion's welcome, and my master even let me have a seat at the table, calling me the 'Dragon slayer' in praise. I held my head up high in pride that day, the day when my master and I came home as heroes.

But good times like those can't last forever… believe me; I learned that the hard way.

Weeks after that welcoming, I was snoozing in front of the burning fireplace. Winter had started to set in and the temperature dropped like a Golem falling off a mountain once the sun went down. My master had been out for a while, as he often did as of late. Every time he came back, I'd greet him with the same kind and happy run up and bark, but not too loudly.

But this time, when I went up to greet him, he shooed me away. My master had never sent me away, so I was concerned for him; he seemed very distressed, so I went to him. When I put a paw on his leg, he exploded worse than an Electrode. I became the brunt of yelling, particularly words that Human's call 'profane', and of thrown objects.

Needless to say, I was scared out of my fur. I had never seen my master so upset, so unglued… and then he did something that shook me to the core. He took my pokeball off his belt, activated it, and smashed it underneath his foot. I remember what he said next here… and in my nightmares.

"_Get out! Get out, and don't come back!_" He repeated those words and shouted other strings of profanity at me. If it had been any other Human, I would've already bitten him… but not my master. I couldn't disobey him… I couldn't. I sprinted out of the open door as fast as my four paws could carry me, without any idea of what to do.

When I finally stopped about a mile from the house, I caught my breath and tried to piece together what had just happened. After a while, I was able to convince myself that he just had a bad night or something, and that he would come for me in the morning. I forced myself to sleep on that thin comfort, hoping with all of my heart that it was true.

But the morning came… and the morning after that, and the morning after that. For days upon days, I stayed in the same spot short of scavenging berries to keep myself alive at least. For a whole week I stayed in that small clearing… waiting for a rescue that would never come.

By the eighth day, I had lost my hope. He really had set me free, but instead of happiness I felt like my whole life had fallen into the sea. I gathered the courage that night to return to my old home, to try and see why… why had he thrown me out?

When I approached it, I saw what Human's call a 'car' pull up to the house, some kind of transportation device. I recognized it because it was one that my master had gotten just days before he banished me, a pretty nice… thing on the inside. But now… I could hardly look at it without losing the last of my dignity.

As I watched, I saw my master get out of the vehicle… along with another Human, a female. When I saw that, I felt my inner fire ignite and rampage in me with my fury. So that was it? I had been cast away, thrown out like garbage, for another Human?!

When I saw that, I had every motivation to torch the entire house… but even in my anger, I couldn't. How could I hurt my master, or his family for that matter? The answer was that I couldn't; I couldn't hurt the one who raised me from puphood, even if he had betrayed me.

I did the only thing I could do… I fulfilled my master's last order; I left his home, and his new mate, far behind me. I knew the region well from our journey, so I was able to find my way around easily, and it wasn't long before I found my way to Eterna Forest.

It's been a long time since that day… at least a Human year. And here I am, lying in a hollowed-out tree in the beams of the bright midday sun that shine through the small holes throughout the trunk. Even today, I still hear him… his final words echo in my dreams, my nightmares.

I, Enkidu, am no longer a champion. I'm merely another Pokemon trying to survive. As I stood up, shaking my fur clean of any dirt and bits of tree, I kept my spirits up in the light of the day. He may have betrayed me, but he at least did so by setting me free; I have a clean slate out here, a new chance, and a new life. As I walked out of the hollow tree I called home, I thought the same thing that I did all those years ago, when I fulfilled my former master's dream for him…

"_Here goes._"


End file.
